Story of Eight Friends
by Kioshie
Summary: The Lyoko gang have made it through a Xana free year unscathed, but now they're going to Kadic High, where new characters, plot twist, and worst, Xana. How can our origional 6 make it out alive? same story from Kiyoshi-pure, just a new account T2Bsafe
1. A New Year

Kiyoshi-pure: Hey everyone, so you all remember this story from a few months ago, how I deleted it and all. Well I did that because in the course of two weeks, my writing improved drastically, and it's improving further, so I'm trying to rewrite it and make it better. Several plot elements will be changed, the characters will differ slightly and the settings are slightly new!

~*~

The sun rose above the horizon, beginning the day in a soft orange glow surrounding France. The sky retained few clouds, but the glow of the sun had a similar glorious effect on the clouds as it did the sky. The clouds swirled in soft lines of silver with peaceful yellow undertones. The crisp autumn leaves danced in the soft wind, sweeping across the smaller cities surrounding Paris. Kadic Academy High School was one lovely sight in particular. The courtyard was home of various colorful flowers and trees containing yellow, brown, orange, red and even the occasional purple leaf. The leaves danced low above the ground in a swirled dance fluttering this way and that, color bountiful. It began to fill with students, slowly over time.

Kadic Academy High School was a boarding school filled by two feeder school, today was the day students could begin to move in. There was a tall brick, building on either side of the court yard, each was a dormitory. Past the courtyard was the main office building, with small paths on either side leading under the trees to the academic classes. Each class room was filled with desks made to hold two to three students, the layouts much like one of its feeder schools, Kadic Academy Middle School.

One student in particular was Ulrich Stern, one of the new freshmen. He had grown several inches over the year, resulting in his now six feet, two inches. His build was lanky, but he had strong muscles from three years of being lead forward and four years of spending his summers in a special camp designed to improve skills before that. His hair was a chocolate brown with warm brown eyes to match. He carried his several bags up to his dorm, his father behind him with a few boxes. Ulrich had spent the year with most of his friends, his best friend Yumi had lived in Japan for a year, but was suppose to return this year and join them a sophomore.

He walked into his dorm to see it was much like his old one, the only difference, one of the beds was a bunk bed, and there was a third desk. He tossed his backpack onto the top bunk and dropped the rest of the backs down on the ground. Sighing, he turned to see his father who handed him the rest of the bags. The relationship between him and his father had not improved, in fact, it had worsened. As his father turned to leave, he thought about how he was the first here, like always.

~*~

Odd Della Robbia walked through the gates of the school, his mother and father following him with bags. Odd had grown quite a bit, to a fair height of five feet nine inches. His hair was blonde with an oddly natural purple streak, with was how he earned his name. He was still his "svelte" self, forever dubbed scrawny, no matter how much he hated it. He walked through the campus like he owned it, head held high, strutting into the courtyard. He stopped at the courtyard and turned to his parents, smiling widely. His mother gave him a watery smile and hugged him, reaching up to kiss his cheek. His father, who was only an inch taller than him, gave him a manly one arm hug and ruffled his spiked hair, resulting in several strands of his blond hair sticking out at odder angles.

"We'll miss you Odd, make sure to call every week, oh, and email us" his mother said. "and don't forget to eat your vegetables"

"Yes, yes, and not likely mom" he said, smiling widely again.

His father put down the remaining of his bags, one including Kiwi, and wrapped his arm around his wife. "You sure you're going to be okay?" he asked.

"Yes guys, now go, you'll miss your plane" Odd said, smiling at how his relationship with his parents had grown so much more. He noticed a lanky blonde boy with glasses looking around the campus in awe and ran over to him, forgetting his bags. "Jeremy!"

Jeremy Belpois smiled and waved at his friend. His hair was neatly cut so it hung just above his eyes, he'd grown drastically over the summer, from his short five feet, five inches to a scaling six feet.

Odd ran to Jeremy, tripping and bringing Jeremy down with him. They laughed and picked themselves up. "Sorry buddy"

"It's okay, I would've done it myself" Jeremy joked. He had become quite clumsy through his rapid growth spurt.

"Yeah, he's a real klutz now" a soft soprano female voice said. Odd looked to see a now burgundy haired girl gracefully make her way over. Her hair hung loosely along her back, gracing the small of her back. Her side-swept bangs covered one of her emerald eyes, but her identity was apparent to Odd.

Aelita hugged her friend Odd and stood back looking at him. Jeremy wrapped an arm around her and held her close. Aelita had been adopted by his aunt and uncle, who happened to live close by, and now their relationship had blossomed into something grand.

"So, what room do you have?" Aelita asked.

"I have room 131" Odd confirmed.

"You're my roommate?" Jeremy asked, faking stress. Aelita laughed a laugh like bells and knelt her head onto his high shoulder.

"Yep, so you better watch out" Odd joked. Jeremy laughed.

"Well I have room 342" Aelita mentioned, looking at her slip once more. "I'll hold off on packing I think, I'll help you guys" Aelita mentioned.

"Cool, sounds good to me" Jeremy said, kissing her already blushing cheek.

~*~

Yumi Ishiyama walked onto campus, her hair hung in luscious raven black curls over her graceful, yet strong, shoulders. Her dark chocolate eyes were lined with thin black eyeliner and her cheeks retained a soft pink. She was dressed in a pair of skinny black jeans and a loose purple blouse. She looked so different compared to how she looked when her friends had last seen her. Her rosy pink lips stretched in a sweet smile. She walked down to the dormitory, up the three flights of stairs to her room. She opened the door to see it had two bunk beds. She tossed her bags onto the bottom bunk of one, and left to go explore her new home.

~*~

Marina looked between her parents and her two older brothers, Tyler and Charlie. Charlie was eighteen and Tyler was sixteen, they both had milk chocolate hair and sapphire eyes like their mom. Her mom had short blond hair and eyes like her lovely sons, she was a slightly tall five seven and slender with curves in the perfect places. Her father was a tall six foot three inches with dark chocolate hair and eyes, his skin was tanned and his eyes had small creases.

Marina herself had shoulder length dark brown, almost black, hair, with red tones sweeping through her thick layers. Her bangs hung along her sarcastic eyebrows, presenting her dark green, watery eyes, giving her an innocent look despite her devious, genius mind. Her skin was pale porcelain, with soft pink, pouty lips. She was the shortest of her tall family, a fair five feet six inches. She was slender, with few curves, but enough to look her age. She smiled and hugged each parent and both her brothers.

"Bye little sis" Tyler said, trying not to let on how much he'd truly miss his best friend.

"We'll miss you" Charlie said, knowing he and Tyler would be at lost of a best friend, a plotting buddy, and a loving sister.

Marina McCarty had received a scholarship from Kadic Academy High School from the Foreign Exchange Program. Though she couldn't speak much French, she was eager to learn. She left her family as she went through security, and boarded the plane.

She sat down by the window and pulled out her i-pod, her brothers had chipped in to give her this as a going away present, which in a matter of days had been filled with many songs. She fingers the green cover and smiled, remembering how amazing they were. She sighed and sat back as _Goodbyes_ by Savannah Outen played through the headphones on repeat.

She barely noticed when the plane landed, shaking slightly. Sighing, she picked up her small backpack and walked through the plane, getting off and looking around. People were scurrying around, greeting loved ones, saying goodbye, checking their cell phones for missed calls, the kind of thing you'd expect. She sighed and walked around to find where she could pick up her luggage.

Within fifteen minutes, she had it in her hands and was trekking off to the exit to find a taxi, praying they spoke at least some English. She called a taxi and put her bags in the trunks. Getting in, she sighed and prayed once more.

"_Where to Miss?_" the man asked. She sighed, and prayed one more.

"Kadic Academy High School please?" she asked.

He nodded, obviously not knowing enough English to ask her what he wanted to know. The taxi drove down a number of streets, taking the occasional left, or right, until eventually, he pulled to a steady stop.

"_We're here_" he said, gesturing outward.

"Thank you" she said. She pondered over the few words she knew, looking for what she meant. "Au revoir"

She stepped out and walked to the all ready opened trunk and pulled her bags out. She walked through the gates, a light, welcoming wind brushing through her thick hair. She sighed and pulled out the printed up registration slips she had. They contained her schedule and dorm room. She made her way to the dormitory for girls when a petite blonde haired girl stopped her.

"_Where do you think you're going?_" she asked Marina. Her icy blue eyes gazed over her and she sighed. "Are you American?" her snooty voice asked with a heavy accent.

She looked at Marina, Marina smirked and walked away, making her way to her dorm. Climbing the three flights of stairs, she walked to her room and opened the door. The room and two bunk beds, two dressers, and the end of the room was lined with a total of four tables, making up the desks, despite the fact that there was only two chairs. Maria threw her backpack on the top bunk, and noticed the one bellow her was already taken. She shrugged it off and pulled her docking station for her I-pod and plugged it in. She stuck her I-pod in and placed it on shuffle.

Max Morgan's You Better Believe began to play and she smiled before beginning to unpack.

~*~

Yumi had finished exploring and began to walk to her dorm when she saw Aelita. "Aelita!" she called. The girl turned and smiled, running to her best friend. She engulfed Yumi in a hug, pulling back, she looked her friend up and down, smiling with approval.

"How was your time in Japan?" she asked.

"Great, I picked up on the language so fast, and it's beautiful in the spring! I missed you guys so much" she said.

"Well, I helped the guys unpack, and I'm about to unpack myself" Aelita said.

"Right, where's your dorm?" Yumi asked.

"Room 342" Aelita said. Yumi began to jump up and down, performing a happy dance. Aelita immediately understood and began herself.

"Come on, let's go unpack" Yumi declared, rushing off into the dormitory. They made it up the stairs and down the hall. They were just about to open the door when Natasha Bedingfield's Pocketful of Sunshine wafted through the door. They smiled and opened the door to see a brunette girl dancing to the music. She was dressed in light denim bell-bottoms, and a royal purple blouse that graced her knees and delicately flowed over the pale shoulders. Her eyes were lined with black eyeliner and her lips were coated lightly with gloss.

"Hey, I'm Marina McCarty" she said in a low alto voice, holding her hand out.

"I'm Yumi Ishiyama, and this is Aelita Stones" she said, gesturing to Aelita.

"Nice to meet you, are you guys my roommates?" Marina asked. They nodded. Marina smiled. "Let's get you guys unpacked"

"Do you speak any French?" Aelita asked.

"No, but I have a double period of French, so hopefully I'll pick it up fast" Marina said, hopeful

~*~

Anna Lynne Richard made her way up the steps to her dorm. She had soft blonde hair the swayed past her shoulders by two inches, her stormy blue eyes scanned the hall, checking each door as she walked down the hall. She stood a tall five feet and eight inches, she was slender with growing curves subtly lining her form. Her rosy lips formed a smile as she finally found her room. She found music wafting through the door, one of her favorite songs to, Coldplay's _Yellow_. She opened the doors and say a Japanese girl putting clothes into a dresser, a girl with burgundy hair placing books on a desk and a brunette sitting on the top bunk to her left.

"_Hi, I'm Anna_" she said in French. The Japanese, and burgundy haired, girls waved their hands, smiling. The brunette looked slightly worried for a moment and waved.

"Do you speak any English?" the dark brunette asked in Anna's familiar language. Anna nodded, and she smiled. "I'm Marina"

"I'm Aelita" the burgundy haired girl said.

"And I'm Yumi" the Japanese girl said.

Anna looked between the three of them and smiled, they could be good friends. "Which bunk's left?" she asked.

Marina pointed to the bed across from her, the top bunk. Anna smiled and began to unpack.

~*~

Ulrich sat there as Jeremy worked with his new computer and Odd drew, bored, he jumped off his bed. "I'm going to go find the girls" he said.

"See ya" Odd said, raising his hand as a parting. Jeremy nodded. Ulrich shrugged and walked out the door and down the hall before exiting the dormitory.

The courtyard was not filled with students and parents. He sighed and walked to the girls dormitory, rushing up the three flights of stairs and down the halls, searching for the room number Yumi had texted him the day before. He found the door and knocked. A dark haired girl opened the door and looked up at him.

"_Is Yumi here?_" he asked in French. Her eyes flashed with curiosity. He asked again in German, hoping she knew this language. She turned her head to look at Yumi and Aelita and another girl he didn't recognize.

"Let him in" Yumi told her in a language foreign to him. He could only guess it was English. She nodded to her and let him in. "_This is Marina_" she said in French, pointing to the nearly black haired girl, "_and this is Anna_" she told him, pointing to the blonde girl.

"_I'm Ulrich_" he said to them. Both girls nodded and returned to what they were doing.


	2. Getting Used to New Friends

French will be in _italics_! English will be in regular.

* * *

While Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita chatted, Marina sat on her bed reading Speak, and Anna was hanging up her clothes.

"_So, you want to get lunch?_" Ulrich asked them, he had found out Anna spoke French, but Marina didn't, he had yet to hear her in fact.

"_Sure_" Aelita said. "Anna, Marina, would you like to have lunch with us?"

Marina nodded her head, and Anna replied a "Yes". Ulrich nodded, and Yumi smiled.

"_Let's go_" he said, gesturing to the door for Marina's benefit. He led them out and noticed Marina kept to herself, unsure of when to say. "_Yumi, will you help me with English?_" he asked her.

"_Yeah, sure_" Yumi said, smiling.

They walked out of the dormitory and found their way down the path and to the Cafeteria. The building was made of grey bricks and surrounded by the trees, autumn leaves everywhere. The five entered the building and got to the small lunch line. They each picked out their trays and found a table by the window. Marina picked at her salad, watching the leaves swirl, Anna ate rapidly, getting to know Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita.

"_So, where are you from?_" Ulrich asked.

"_New York, I spent two years in France, and I liked it so much, my parents agreed to let me come here in the exchange program_" Anna said, taking a big bite out of her Italian sandwich.

"_Hmm… I grew up in France, not much to say other than that_" Ulrich told her.

"_Yeah, so did I, and then I spent last year in Japan, its incredible_" Yumi mentioned, smiling on her joyful memories.

"_I grew up in northern France, in the mountains, then I moved down here after my parents died, then Jeremy's aunt and uncle adopted me, so I'm liking it here a lot._" Aelita said.

Hands covered her eyes. "_Guess who?_" a loving voice asked.

"_Hey Jeremy, did you get your computer set up?_" Aelita asked.

Jeremy sat down and nodded. "_Hello, I'm Jeremy_" he greeted the new comers.

"_Marina_" Anna said, gesturing to the girl still watching the leaves through the window. "_only speaks English_"

"Hello Marina, I'm Jeremy" he said. Marina's head jerked to him at the sound of his English. She smiled.

"Hello Jeremy" she said. Ulrich paid close attention to her low alto voice, it sounding like rushing waterfalls, graceful, beautiful.

"I'm Anna" she told him.

"Hello Anna" Odd said as he sat down with a tray filled with food. He shook her hand and began to stuff himself. Marina looked in surprise at his tray.

"Will you leave some for others?" she asked, sarcasm ringing through her voice. Odd smirked and shook his head.

William walked up to them and sat down. "_Hey guys, how was Japan Yumi?_"

"_Great_, this is Marina and Anna. Marina only speaks English" Yumi said, gesturing to each girl.

"It's nice to meet you guys" William said. "So, Yumi, what's your schedule?"

Yumi handed William her schedule. "Great, you and I have class 10C, that's great!" he exclaimed.

"Which reminds me, what grade are you guys?" Aelita asked.

"Ninth" Anna said.

"Me too" Marina replied. Ulrich had picked up enough English to be happy about that.

"_What class?_" Ulrich asked.

"_9B, Marina has the same_" Anna told him. Ulrich nodded, happy.

Marina stood up with her empty tray, she pondered over what little French she knew. "au revoir"

They responded in a chorus of goodbyes. Marina smiled and left.

She walked out the door and looked around, wondering what she could do. She knew very well that the school was connected to a forest, that there was a rec. room with foosball and that the library was open. She decided on the forest and took off running.

Ulrich continued chatting with his friends until he was tired of watching Jeremy and Aelita make gushy, romance comments and faces, and Odd and Anna stuff themselves to the gills. He picked up his tray and dropped it in the bin before heading off to the rec. room to play foosball.

Marina had found a tall tree on which to climb. Now perched on a high branch, she looked around. She could faintly see the dormitories through the thick branches. She heard the steps of two others bellow. Peeking out from her perch, she saw a couple walking hand in hand, whispering softly to each other in French. Marina ignored them happily and went back to just being alone and happy.

Eventually she had gotten bored with herself and climbed down the tree, jumping from the lowest branch to the ground, landing clumsily on her feet. She walked to the campus, looking for the rec. room.

The walls were a light green, complimented by the light hardwood flooring. There were two vending machines next to her, and a sectional couch a few feet away facing a large TV. There was a pool table and a foosball table, along with several booths in the far corner. Marina noticed that several girls were watching a romance movie, and that some had even flocked a guy or two over to them, their boyfriends no doubt, and had them watching the movie with them, arms around them lovingly. The pool table was taken up by a small game between two tall, muscular guys with their friends cheering them on, the foosball table however was being played by Ulrich and another boy she had yet to meet. He had thick brown hair and cold chocolate eyes, he was tall, and had a few muscles. She walked over and watched as Ulrich massacred this boy's ego.

The two were so into the game they didn't notice their audience until Ulrich had won.

"_Hey Marina_" Ulrich greeted. Marina smiled and made a meek wave,

"_Hello, I'm Theo_" the boy greeted, standing over her, looking her up and down. Marina shied away from him and looked down.

"_She doesn't speak French_" Ulrich told him.

"_Oh, what does she speak_" Theo asked.

"_English_" Ulrich said, gritting his teeth slightly.

"Hello Marina, I'm Theo" he greeted. Marina nodded, and turned to Ulrich.

"Can I play?" she asked, pointing to the table. Ulrich nodded and placed the ball in the center. Marina placed her hands firmly on the handles, ready.

"_One_" Ulrich said, holding up a finger. "_Two_" another joined the first. "_Three_." Marina turned the handle, sending the ball flying her way. She took the handle to the left, and positioned the ball, striking it through Ulrich's defenses. Ulrich caught it last minute and shot it to through, sending it up the table, only to have Marina stop in three quarters of the way there. They began playing rapidly, neither winning, nor loosing, until Marina scored the ball into the goal post. Ulrich smiled.

"_You're good_" he said, smiling. Marina hoped he had meant it as something good and nodded.

"He's right, you are good" Theo told her. Marina smiled at Ulrich and prepared for the next play.

Ulrich placed the ball down and counted down with his fingers, saying each number with it. Marina stuck the ball forward and the play had begun. This time Ulrich won.

The game played out like that, one rarely made it ahead by more than a few points, in the end, Ulrich ended up winning, and there was a huge crowd watching them.

"So, would you like to go hang out?" Theo asked Marina. Marina looked at him, debating what to say. Biting her lip, she looked at Ulrich, eyes asking for help.

"_Actually, Theo, I wanted to introduce Marina to a few of my friends, Jeremy and Odd still haven't met her yet_" Ulrich lied.

"Oh, okay. He wants to introduce you to his friends" he told her, pointing his thump behind him where Ulrich stood. Marina nodded and walked over to Ulrich, nodding.

Ulrich led her out, leaving Theo to stand there, feeling slightly rejected.

"You lied?" Marina asked. Ulrich thought over what she meant. He shrugged.

"Oh, hey, there you are, I got to show you two something" Anna said, first to Marina in English, then in French to Ulrich. She took their wrist in her hands and dragged them to the dormitories, leading them to the boys' room. Marina sat on Jeremy's bed while Ulrich just stood there.

"Me and Odd are having a pie eating contest" she explained to each in their own language.

"Let the games begin" Odd declared in both languages. They held their hands behind their backs, each facing their separate tables, where two stolen blueberry pies laid, hot and steaming, so fresh that Marina's mouth watered, though she was at least five feet away from the tempting source.

Jeremy counted down in French, fingers held up for one in particular's benefit, from five. Once the last number was uttered, Odd and Anna launched themselves down, facing away from each other. The sounds of muffled bites, slups, and hums of enjoyment as the warm blue substance echoed through their tongs. They surrounding audience of five watched the two, excited to see Odd get defeated. Anna's head shot up first, her face covered in warm blue goo, from cheek to cheek, her nose covered, her chin dripping. She smiled victoriously, licking her lips in sheer pleasure. Odd's head jolted up, a frown worn well. His entire face was, like Anna's, cover in the warm goo from his pie. His dog Kiwi jumped onto the chair and into his arms, licking his cheeks, enjoying the juicy flavor, savoring it to his rather short memory. Everyone laughed, amused by their friend's companion.

"I thought dogs weren't allowed on campus, if I knew, I would have brought Zabian" she said, a shadow of miss on her pale cheeks. Ulrich looked at her in fascination, he had caught on to the words "_cat_; _brought_; and _Zabien_" figuring Zabian was the name of her cat, musing on the odd name.

"They're not, Kiwi's a secret" Odd explained. Ulrich was finding English a difficult language to catch on, though many a time he had heard is was so difficult because the English and Americans loved to complicate things, even if it was the personal opinion of a few of his former teachers, he'd now come to believe it…

"Well, we have a long weekend in which students can go back to their families for four days" Aelita told her.

Marina's face flashed with happiness and a strike of deviation.

"I'm hungry" Marina commented.

"Me too!" Odd declared, his New Zealand accent slurring through his words, though it was rarely heard through his French, it did slightly effect the way his English sounded, but the new comers found it funny, Anna especially…

"You just ate" Yumi commented. Ulrich felt slightly left out, he was only picking up slight bits of the conversation. He motioned to Jeremy to explain what he had missed.

"_Marina and Odd are hungry_" he told him. Ulrich smiled a thank you before looking upon the group who was now joking in the language so foreign to him.

"_Why don't we go to the cafeteria_" he suggested. Marina looked at him, pondering over what he had meant.

"Want to go to the cafeteria?" Anna asked her. Marina nodded and the group of seven set off.

Xox


	3. First Day Part 1

_Kiyoshi-pure: Hey, so I've been getting really annoyed with the lack of reviews. Is this because you simply don't think it's nessisary to show an author your support? I" get that, I've actually forgotten to review alot of stroies where I made it to the end of the first chapter or maybe a little farther but I didn't leave anything, and that's not right. So I'm going to make a pact with you guys, for every story I check out, I will make sure to leave a review with my critics and comments and thoughts before going to look for a new one. There are so many where I read the preview and the plot looks promicing but I can't stand the grammer so I go without leaving any tips about it. So whether you think my writing style sucks or you love the story and want me to update as soon as possible I want you to tell me._

_I've been writing narrative stories since I was seven years old, that was almost eight years ago (yeah, I'm almost 15) and I've improved drasically (check my yahoo profile later for the details) and I'm no longer an ameture writer and I don't view myself that way at all. I've actually written my frist book, and I'm editing it, so I have a lot of respect for the writers who put a professional structure to their work and I hope you will do the same for me. If anyone new me before from all my earlier work, you'll see I'm a lot more mature with my writing, it's not something on the side with all the other fun things, it is my life's passion and I am very much in love with writing. So with that said, please enjoy all I have to offer in this chapter and those preceding it. Enjoy!_

* * *

Marina sat on her bunk, freshly showered and dressed in pajamas, consisting of black flannel pajama bottoms with snowflakes ranging in different sizes and colors up and down the legs. The pants she was to wear to bed were completed with a black long-sleeved shirt with the white outline of a cartoon penguin on the chest. Her hair was pulled up into a loose bun, perfect for her quickly growing hair.

Anna walked through the door, also freshly showered, her wet golden blond locks turned a light brown with darker blond tones, pulled up into a hair-tie originating from the base of her neck. She was dressed in blue shorts and a white tank-top, quite used to sleeping in the cold. She climbed up the ladder to her bunk and sat down, pulling out New Moon with her. Marina smiled and settled down, her soft and warm green blanket wrapped tightly around the maturing frame and the black comforter draped over her. She closed her eyes, imagining what her first day in the new school would be like. She found her mind wondering every now and again, but to where she knew not.

Yumi and Aelita walked through the door, pulling Marina back from her light half-conscious sleep. Yumi had her long raven hair no longer in luscious loose curls, but pin straight from the warm shower pulled into a braided bun, she was dressed in a black tank-top and dark grey shorts, she settled on her bunk, just bellow Marina and wrapped the covers around herself. Aelita, however, had her burgundy hair resting naturally, all the way down to her back, almost a dark, yet warm, black from the wetness. She wore her familiar oversized light pink shirt with a dark pink "A" on it and white socks to keep her feet warm through the cool night.

"_Goodnight_" Aelita said to Marina.

"Goodnight?" Marina asked, uncertain.

"Yep, you got it right" Yumi assured her. Marina smiled to herself and buried herself into the cozy covers. The others quickly followed the suit, rather excited to see how the next day would play out.

Marina's mind switched through images of home, family, friends, before resting on one, a blond haired boy with swirling azure blue eyes.

"_Hey Marina, how was sixth period?" the boy asked, looking deep into the green eyes of his best friend, a girl he had secretly liked for a few months now. Marina smiled, remembering the chaos that reeked havoc on the substitute._

"_Funny" she said, a smile crossing her pale face. They walked, side by side, their direction unclear._

"_Ms. Relks was okay, she must have been sober today" he joked._

"_Weird, I miss that class" Marina said softly. She looked up the inch difference to her friend, the boy she had secretly liked, possibly loved, for over a year. She smiled when she was met with azure blue eyes. He smiled back, causing Marina's cheeks to flush a soft color of pink. They walked down the street, heading to Marina's house, like always._

"_Marina?" Cody asked softly, breaking the comfortable silence between them. She looked up to him, she eyes dancing in curiosity. He bit back the fear, and opened his mouth. "I like you"_

_She eyes flashed with confusion. "I have for a few months, I really like you" he continued. Her eyes danced with joy._

"_Me too" she said, smiling._

_He leaned in, causing her to follow, his lips parted slightly, ready to take in the warmth they had wanted for weeks now. He could feel her warm breath, just before it caught in her throat, his following the suit. Their lips were merely a half inch apart when an excited cheer came from the house in front of them._

"_Marina, the letter came!" Marina's mom called, running into the front yard. By the time she set eyes on the two, they were apart again, mentally cursing themselves for the interruption. Marina pondered over what could be so important, when the words struck her like a bat. The letter, the letter she had been waiting for, for weeks._

_Her mother handed Marina the letter, not even open. Marina looked from the dark sapphire eyes of her mother, to those of Cody. They silently encouraged her to open the letter. She pulled out the letter, looking down the list of words. Her breath caught once again as she read that she had been accepted to take part in the foreign exchange program with France._

_After that, neither of them brought up what had happened before the letter, waiting for the other to bring it up. The friendship had become slightly strained, and Marina only had a few days till she left._

_She sat on the couch in the living room, reading a book her father had gotten her, when she heard a knock at the door. She got up and walked into the small foyer, opening the door to reveal her best friend. He stood there in his football jersey, looking down. He looked down, meeting dark green eyes. Marina smiled, counting the colors of dark blue in his lovely eyes._

"_Hey" she greeted him._

"_Hey, I kind of wanted to talk to you, about the kiss" he paused, pondering over something. "Almost kiss" he corrected. He looked at her, her eyes were filled with that same curiosity, dancing its way tauntingly. "When you go to France, promise you won't find some French guy, I really like you" He held her hands in his now._

_Marina nodded. "I promise" she whispered. Cody made a crooked smile and leaned in slightly, Marina following the suit. Their lips parted slightly in anticipation, their eyes edging to close. Their noses grazed past each other as their lips slowly closed the distance._

"_Marina, where's Dad?" Charlie called as he walked in from the back door. Marina jerked back in surprise and sighed._

"_He's in the bedroom" she called._

_The sound of a honk pierced through the air, causing Cody to glance behind himself._

"_My dad's getting impatient, I have to be at the bus right not, we have a game in San Francisco" he said regrettably. Marina frowned._

"_Don't go just yet" Marina said. Cody smiled, and leaned in once more._

"_Marina, can you help me with the computer?" Charlie called from somewhere in the fair sized house._

"_Never mind, go to your game, you'll see me goodbye at the airport, right?" she asked._

"_No, I'm sorry" Cody said, biting his lip._

_Marina tilted her head upward, her lips smiling as she prepared to take a kiss. A horn blared, causing her to jump backward, she sighed. "Never mind" she muttered. "Go, before your dad pops a vessel" she joked._

_Cody smiled and nodded, turning to leave. Both thought about quickly stealing a kiss before they parted for however long, but both were hesitant.__

* * *

_

A loud squeal of electronics shook the air, tearing the four young girls from their dreams. Marina rolled from her stomach to her back, pushing the brow length bangs and scattered, short, layers out of her face, pondering her dream. She never really had memories for dreams, but this bothered her. It cut her deeply.

Pushing the thought away, she struggled out of her covers, tangled in the two blankets. She edged closer to the dangerous edge, where the ground hung underneath. A few moments struggle and she found herself caught and tangled in her blankets as she fell to the cold ground. She landed with a soft thud, on her right side, leaning inward towards her stomach. Pushing herself up from the ground, she stood up and picked up her tangled covers, dumping them messily on her bunk. She walked over to the closet she shared with Yumi and pulled out a denim skirt that fell at her ankles and a white blouse with a collar lined with lace. She put them on and released her hair from it's now messy bun, letting it fall in thick waves, framing her heart shaped face.

Anna made up her bed perfectly and pulled out the outfit she had chosen the night before, a pair of black skinny jeans and a dark blue sweater that made her stormy blue eyes sparkle with beauty.

Yumi made up her bed, Japanese style, and put on a pair of black skinny jeans with a dark grey sweater that delicately graced over her pale collarbones. She pulled out her hair-tie, releasing the hair that now hung in luscious curls. She rang her fingers through them carefully, positioning them with care, so that they barely passed her shoulders.

Aelita had her bed made quickly and looked through the closet she shared with Anna for a outfit suitable for her first day. She pulled out a pair of dark straight-leg pants and a dark pink blouse before pulling out her dark purple sweatshirt and putting it on.

Each girl fixed her makeup, each simple, Anna with some eyeliner and mascara, with a bit of gloss, Marina had thicker eyeliner, but a similar combination to Anna. Yumi put on a rosy blush, sweeping it across her lovely cheekbones, leaving a glorious effect, finished of by a coat of mascara on her top lashes and a soft pink gloss. Aelita swept the pink blush up her soft and gentle cheekbones and added a coat of clear gloss, looking gorgeous. They were finished at about the same time and picked up their bags before walking out their dorm to the cafeteria._

* * *

_

The cafeteria itself was bustling with students chatting about their summer adventures and showing off their new looks. Friends reacquainted and joked, couples kissed and embraced each other, and enemies starred the other down behind their backs. Marina found that this was very much like the school she had attended, an 7th through 9th grade school.

The four sat down with freshly filled plates and began to discuss subjects of importance amongst themselves, mostly of the new courses and electives. Marina was only been given one elective, due to the double-hour of French, so she had chosen Chorus, another way to pick up on the French quickly. Anna and Aelita shared that class with her, along with almost every other, Aelita was in an Honors French class while Anna was in a regular class.

"Hi" A low voice called from behind. Aelita and Yumi knew its source and didn't bother tearing from thick conversation, Anna was stuffing her face with food and had not caught onto the greeting, but Marina looked behind to see Ulrich standing behind her. She smiled and motioned for him to sit, saying so.

Ulrich took a seat between Yumi and Marina, jabbing his fork into his eggs. Odd sat down next, saying a simple greeting of "hey" before shoveling his face full of food. Jeremy took up a spot beside Aelita and kissed her cheek in greeting, causing the burgundy haired girl to blush a slight scarlet through the light make-up.

_"You look beautiful"_ Jeremy told her.

_"thank you"_ Aelita said, smiling and blushing. Marina watched everyone, trying to pick up on the words.

Yumi ate her pancakes thoughtfully when a new presence made itself known to her. William sat down and greeted everyone before smiling at Yumi.

_"So Yumi, which class are you looking forward to?"_ he asked sincerely.

_"Art"_ Yumi replied. William smiled, looking into her dark chocolate eyes, finding himself slightly lost, like always.

Marina stole a glance out the window, watching as the wind played with the fallen leaves. She remembered the swirling dance with the day before and smiled, wondering if every day was this perfect, cool weather, a soft breeze, a nice cloud-filled sky. Not like in California, where the smog dominated the air, the sun beat down brutally, and the skies rarely stayed like this all day, light and cloud-filled, a simple perfection. She was torn from her mental ramblings when a hand shook her. She looked and saw Anna, motioning that most of the students had left now, to find their first class. Marina picked up her now empty tray, though she hadn't eaten that much, she had probably received some help, and threw it away before walking out, looking for any indication where to go.

* * *

The classrooms filled up quick for the first class of the day, French. Marina sat in one of the available desks, the seat beside her empty. Anna sat down next to Odd in the back, and of course, Aelita and Jeremy were in the honors version. Marina sat there, waiting for the chair to fill. The class was nearly empty and everyone was sitting with someone familiar, from the previous years. At the last minute, Ulrich stepped in and looked for a good seat. There were a few open, but he chose to sit next to Marina, she was already a friend to everyone, he wanted to know her better. Marina smiled kindly to him as the teacher walked in.

She was a tall, lean women with thick black hair and beady black eyes, her cheek bones were set up high and her eyebrows were perfectly plucked. Her make-up was so perfect some thought it was natural, her hair hung straight, just to her waist in a thick braid. She was dressed fashionably, a dark grey pencil skirt with a trendy belt and complimented by a cerulean blouse.

She turned to the board, the clicking of heels made known though not seen, and picked up a perfect, new, thin piece of chalk and wrote her name in perfect print. "Ms. Shay" she wrote, before turning to the class, looking at each and every student. She smiled, though it had an edge to it the unnerved some, and picked up a stack of papers.

"My name is Ms. Shay, I will be your French teacher for the year. We have a few students this year from America, please be welcoming and courteous, some of them don't know French." She said.

"Welcome, my name is Ms. Shay, I will be your French teacher, I am happy to help you with some of your homework" she said in English. Those who were unfamiliar with French were relieved to know she also spoke English, which was just Marina.

She went over the roll call, though Marina and Anna found that they were the only ones in the class that were exchange students, and began to go through the syllabus. At the end of the class, everyone but Marina left, she remained in her seat, waiting for the next hour of her double period to start. A couple of kids from varying grades walked in, sitting down. The class wasn't much different, and Marina found herself relieved that the break period had come.

She walked out of the building and walked to the nearby snack lines and picked up a cold, wet, green apple. She held it in her hand for a moment as she walked before bringing it to her mouth. She opened her jaw and brought her teeth down on the cold fruit. Her teeth broke through the thin, colorful skin and the moist juices slurred into her mouth, a sour, yet sweet, taste provoking her to take another bite. She continued eating the apple as she walked to her next class, Algebra.

She sat outside the door, her knees pulled into her chest, an old habit of hers. Anna, Ulrich, and Odd approached her, smiling.

"How was it?" Odd asked her.

"Good" Marina said. The three took a seat beside her and took out the snacks they had gotten. Odd munched on a chocolate chip muffin, Ulrich ate his bag of pretzels and Anna nibbled on her cookie. Marina smiled in the comfortable silence.

"Are you any good at math?" Odd asked the two.

"Nope" Anna said, popping the 'p'.

"Yeah" Marina said nonchalantly. She starred off into space, her mind adrift.

Marina felt a light presence on her arm, turning her attention she saw Ulrich lightly shaken her for her attention. She noticed the index finger of his right hand pointed up and behind her where the open door to the classroom stood. She looked back into pools of warm chocolate, and smiled.

_"Class"_ Ulrich told her. Marina nodded, understanding this time.

She stood up, picking up her messenger school bag with her as she walked into the warm classroom. She picked a seat in between Anna and Odd. Ulrich took the seat in front of her and settled into conversation with Odd as Anna helped Marina with her French worksheet.

_"So, what do you think the new year will be like?"_ Ulrich asked.

_"By the looks of Marina's homework, brutal" _Odd confessed.

_"I hope not, my dad was half-tempted to home school me"_ Ulrich muttered, internally shuddering in response to the concept.

_"How do you like the new kids?"_ Odd asked, whispering a continuation with_ "I'm glad we don't have Xana on our hands, we don't have to worry about them finding out"_

_"Yeah, Anna and Marina are pretty cool" _Ulrich responded. He looked at the two girls, Marina was biting her bottom lip as she worked over the vocabulary and Anna was smiling as she corrected Marina's latest, and rather silly, mistake.

_"Hey Ulrich, how was your summer?"_ Sissi asked as she glided in the room with grace.

She was dawned in a thick pink sweater that flaunted her evident curves, and a pair of skinny jeans that were possibly two sizes too tight. Her hair was adorned with a hair-tie that pulled in her hair to the base of her neck. Her make-up was done in a complicated manner that made her cold icy blue eyes pop from her fair, yet tanned, skin. Ulrich paid little attention, though a boy in the back looked at her with hungry eyes of a hormonal teenager.

_"It was good, how was yours?"_ Ulrich responded, ringing in all the politeness he could manage_._

_"Hmm… well I went horseback riding, it was rather fun, oh, and I practiced for the cheer squad, and I'm taking up a sowing class" _she rambled. Ulrich tried to pay attention but found his attention drafted to Odd, Marina and Anna as they laughed to themselves._ "… oh, and you won't believe this, but I did a little modeling over the summer, for a magazine!"_

_"That's great Sissi"_ Ulrich said sincerely, yet still nonchalantly.

_"I know, I'm so excited, it comes out next week!"_ she said, clapping her hands in glee.

_"Okay, settle down, this isn't recess!"_ A rather shrill voice echoed. Ulrich's spine was overcome in shivers as he recognized the voice. He turned his head to see Mrs. Hertz standing in the front of the classroom, looking the same as she did everyday he had her class. A blue denim skirt and a sweater of some limited variety, her silver hair was curly, but this time cut a couple inches shorter.

_"You have got to be kidding me"_ he found himself muttering. He cursed with every word he knew, even a few in English, catching Marina's attention briefly before she rolled her eyes, cussing was not something she enjoyed doing or listening to.

_"You may know me from Kadic Academy, well, I as well as another teacher were transferred over here, I will be teacher the ninth grade Biology classes and this math class. So, I have a syllabus, Elizabeth, will you please pass this out?"_ she asked.

_"Sissi!"_ the dark haired girl muttered angrily under her breath. She took the stack of white papers from the frail and brittle hands of the aging woman and distributed one to each student, smiling at Ulrich as she past him.

Ms. Hertz began to envelop herself in her lecture of class expectations, what subjects they would be covering, and so forth. Many teenagers had by now pulled out a pencil, or maybe a pen, and a paper or notebook of some form, drawing doodles that scrawled across their page. Some had looked at the board, trying to pay attention, but found themselves lost in thoughts miles away, their eyes distant and glazed. A few students remained as they paid close attention to the talking woman, but Ulrich wasn't really in any of these groups, he was actually focusing on a soft melody that had somehow found its way in his head, one of light and slow sounds, in soft fluid movements.

_"Mr. Stern, are you paying attention?"_ Ms. Hertz scolded.

_"Y-yes"_ he stuttered, shocked for a moment. The elderly woman glared at the brunette boy for a moment or two before turning back to the board. Ulrich blushed a mild shade of pink before mentally turning back to the melody, finding nothing remaining. He gave up and counted minutes to the next class.

The shrill cries and whines of the bell pierced the air and students gathered their things, scattering out and away from their possibly mad Algebra teacher. Odd, Ulrich, and Anna went up the hall behind Ms. Hertz to their Biology class while Marina ran off to her Physics Honors class with Aelita and Jeremy.

_"Hey Marina"_ Jeremy said as she sat down at the three person table in the back, center row. A plump middle aged man in a tie-dye lab coat walked in and bowed.

_"Hello, I'll be Mr. Bents, your new Physics Honors class"_ he introduced himself._ "Can I get a volunteer to pass out these white cards?"_

_"I'll do it"_ Aelita offered_._

_"Thank you, what's your name?"_ Mr. Bent asked.

_"Aelita"_ she said in a soft tone.

_"Well thank you Aelita"_ he said.

Marina slid a note to Jeremy.

"What's happening?" he read.

"I think we're going to write our names on the cards" Jeremy wrote back.

Marina nodded her head and watched her new teacher attentively. He talked at a fast speed, but she'd already learned sp much she could get the jist of what he said. When the class was over, they had creatively wrote their names on cards, gone over the syllabus, and passed out books. Marina planned to see Mr. Bent after class and explain to him her situation, but from what she could tell, he was a fun guy, and got along well with students.

The bell ran and Marina walked up to Mr. Bent as he was pulling out a new stack of name cards for his next class. Aelita had stayed behind in case she needed translating.

_"Mr. Bent?"_ Marina said in a sheepish voice.

He looked up_. "Marina, right?"_ she nodded._ "What can I do for you?"_

"_Um, I… don't speak French… well_" she said with her American accent portraying her concern.

"You're one of the exchange students?" he asked. She nodded. "Well that's weird; they didn't leave any notes of it on the roll sheet"

"Well" he reached into his desk and pulled out a lavender syllabus and handed it to Marina, the words in perfect English. "I'll make sure to have an extra copy in English"

"Thank you" she said. She turned and walked with Aelita to their P.E. class and met up with Odd, Ulrich, and Anna.

_"Okay, so, I think the gym is that way"_ Anna said, pointing over to the eastern section of the campus where the gym did indeed rest.

_"Sounds about right, hey Ulrich, do you have Gym next?"_ Odd asked.

Ulrich nodded, stealing a glance at the map.

_"Okay, it's in the eastern section, near the forest entrance"_ Anna told him, pointing to the direction they were heading.

Marina followed half-mindedly as she searched through possible scenarios of how bad this class could be. Her mind was rather creative, she had pictured running from lions, lifting cars to save classmates, being chased by cheetahs, at one point she had wondered if the teacher set up contest involving students to fight to the death.

"Marina, are you still with us?" Odd asked, waving his hand in her face. Marina's eyes fluttered for a moment before she looked at Odd, brow cocked and a smile pulling on the corners of her lips, which she struggled to keep still.

"Depends, can I be a zombie and still be with you?" she asked, sarcasm dancing in thickly.

"Possibly" Odd said, remembering the rather interesting night, well, what little he remembered of it. As result, he crashed into a rather familiar person, Jeremy, who was already dressed in baggy dark brown shorts and a dark blue T-shirt. Jeremy looked down the minor three inches to his friend, whose hair was high enough to surpass him somehow.

"Hey, anyone know who this new gym teacher is?" Jeremy asked. Ulrich shrugged, Odd shook his head and Anna thought it over carefully before giving a popped 'p' "nope", Marina however struggled for the proper words, shrugging a response.

Jeremy waved off the notion before walking off, leaving the others to part and dress for the class themselves. Marina came out in a purple sweater that fit well and a pair black shorts. Anna was dressed in a blue tank-top and white shorts, Aelita in similar garb, but with a pink tank-top. They walked out and met up with Ulrich and Odd, who were dressed similarly to Jeremy, but Ulrich was sporting green and brown and Odd consisted of several shades of purple. Anna smiled at Odd, never before had she seen someone who loved the color purple so much, at least, not a guy.

_"_Ready?" Jeremy asked.

"No" Marina muttered, understanding that much.

"Wonder what they'll make us do" Aelita pondered with Marina.

"Run away from cheetahs, maybe lions if they're nice, maybe have us lift a few cars" Marina said, seeming actually serious. "But those are just theories"

The group laughed, even Ulrich, after Aelita translated of course. They walked into the Gym when Marina bumped into a large lump of a human. She looked up to see a man in his mid-thirties to early forties in a red jogging suit and a head band around his forehead. She took notice to the band-aid, but have the eerie feeling that wasn't from an accident.

_"Hello, what's your name?"_ he asked her in French.

_"Um… I… don't speak French"_ she struggled for words.

_"German, Italian, Polish?"_ he waited patiently for her answer.

_"English"_ Odd piped in._ "She's one of the American transfer students"_

_"Interesting, don't make a habit of shenanigans"_ He told her. She looked to her friends in hopes for translation.

"He's a big nutball" Aelita told her. Marina smirked and walked on with her friends to sit.

_

* * *

_

_Okay, so oddly my school district gives students the entire week the presidents days falls on off, presidents week (not that I'm complaining. So I had a big issue, while editing I somehow managed to make EVERYTHING italisised, so if something like Marina saying a complicated sentence in French happens, she's really saying that in English it's just the edit issue being a punk. Same goes with Ulrich in the French/English ordeal, but I think I got it all._

_Okay, leave me a review!_

_Reviewing-_

_Question one- on a scale of 1-10 (one obviously being the lowest and ten the highest) how does this chapter rate?_

_2- What is your favorite part?_

_3- Anyone want to be a part of Sissi's 'click' I need four girls. Sorry guys, but if you want to be one, send me your girl name and what you'd look like and how'd you act, keep in mind I might change it a lot._

_4- tell me a funny story, I like that kind of thing, and funny experiences is something I like to add to characters_

_5- nope, I think that's it, say something funny please! if you do it Odd style, you will get an honorable mention in the next chapter_

_Review_

_\/_


	4. First Day Part 2

The girls trudged into the locker-room, their bodies covered in sweat. They all sent off into the rows and rows of lockers, retrieving their things and getting dressed for lunch and the last two periods of the day. Marina took care not to move her muscles in the wrong way, since they still burned from the excessive conditioning her gym teacher had subjected her to. Anna pulled her hair out of the high ponytail she had positioned it in and ran a brush through her honey blond hair, bringing it to satisfactory perfection. Aelita pulled on her boots and folded up her gym clothes into a neat stack before shutting her locker close and meeting up with her new friends. They met up with the boys and went to lunch, finding William and Yumi chatting.

"_How was class?_" Yumi asked.

"Blah" Marina was the first to respond, despite only catching onto the last word.

William laughed, and Ulrich smirked. "It gets worse" Jeremy informed her.

"Great" she rolled her eyes.

"I loved Biology, it was just so much fun!" Anna said, sarcasm coated on heavy like Sissi's makeup.

"Yeah, that's a subject I'll never take again" Marina murmured.

"Don't Freshmen take it?" Odd asked.

"Yeah, but my school had a weird program, so I basically skipped enough to not have to take earth science in eight grade and that left Biology next on the list" she said like I was no big deal. After all, Jeremy and Aelita had done the very same thing with their Biology classes.

"_Hey, can I sit here_" a whiny voice asked, grating on Marina's rather sensitive ears. She looked behind her and saw a girl at least two inches taller that her, with long black hair pulled into a gold glitter-ridden ribbon, and a blue and gold cheerleader uniform.

"_Sure Sissi_" Yumi said with slight hesitation, trying to be polite.

"_So, what were you talking about?_" she asked.

"_Biology and how it turns out Marina is a genius_" Odd said simply, gesturing to a confused Marina.

"_Really_" she looked at Marina expectantly, waiting to hear something genious-like.

"Er… Hello?"Marina muttered to the starring girl, feeling uncomfortable.

"_Say something smart_" Sissi encouraged.

"Does she have any idea I don't speak French that well? 'Cause I don't think the air in her head has made the connection" Sissi looked at the strange girl expectantly still, not speaking any English herself.

"_Wow, Sissi, she has to be smart if she's realized you're an airhead without even talking to you!_" Odd barked.

Blood rushed up Sissi's neck and pooled into her cheeks, overflowing to the rest of her face, and Marina couldn't help but laugh, and have it contagiously catch onto the others, until Sissi was beet red and the vein in her head was becoming rather visible to the naked eye. The girl in front of her had somehow made fun of her, and she not how to respond other than to stamp her feet and flee.

"_You… you…!_" She began, but nothing came to mind.

"_She doesn't speak much French, save your breath_" Ulrich warned her in whisper.

Sissi said the only word in English she really knew, and when she did, it rolled off Marina like she had some sort of shield that not even a mega-tank could penetrate. Sissi than stomped away like she should have done in the first place. Everyone turned to the scene, wondering why Sissi had said what she had said, and who it was directed towards. Yumi's face wasn't hot with anger and nobody seemed offended, but seven members were looking at a certain brunet girl with shocked expressions, and the room burst into gossip.

"Interesting girl, very sweet," Marina said with a cheery voice laced in kind sarcasm. "Really, who is she?"

"Sissi, cheerleader—obviously—likes hair, makeup, and is Ulrich's number one fan" Marina's face contorted into an apologetic look to Ulrich. Ulrich had caught onto nothing really, but he knew what Odd would throw in after his name, so he understood what the look was for. He shrugged, and took a bite of his lunch.

"Well, I've had a very interesting day, I think I'll go find somewhere to be, other than under the cheerleader's "icy" glare" Marina said, curling her fingers for added sarcasm to 'icy'.

"Bye" They bid her off with a wave, and she disappeared onto the campus.

Not too long after, the ending Lunch bell called students to class. Marina and Anna had a history class in English, and so did the others, because for some reason, ninth grade students had the same flow of classes, each grade did. And after their boring classes, Marina, Odd, and Anna went to the Chorus room, Ulrich and Yumi went to their martial arts mastery class, Jeremy, Aelita, and William to ceramics. Afterwards, they all met up at the vending machines, their pick on where to study together.

"So, I personally think the school is interesting and boring at the same time, opinions" Marina said as she bought a green tea.

"I don't care for it, Chorus and Art are the only fun classes" Odd said.

"yup yup" Anna agreed.

"_Ulrich, class good? Bad?_" Marina said in her awkward French.

Ulrich stuck out his tong, and they all laughed. Their homework wasn't too bad, Marina managed to finish all her French, Odd actually practiced vocabulary for their Biology test on the following Monday with Anna, Jeremy even through a sour gummy worm at Odd. When they finished, Marina went to her dorm to chat with her brother, Anna went to go watch some TV in the student union with Odd and William, Yumi called her parents, and Jeremy went with Aelita on a walk.

* * *

"_Aelita, what's on your mind?_" Jeremy asked, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"_Nothing_" Aelita said in a very soft voice.

"_Well, can I make it better anyways?_" Jeremy asked.

Aelita stopped and turned to Jeremy, looking up into his light blue eyes. He took the free hand not intertwined with Aelita's and tucked a burgundy stand of hair behind her ear, before leaning down and kissing her softly. When they parted, only Aelita was blushing. She wrapped her arms around Jeremy's back and pulled in close, allowing his arms to rest comfortingly along her back.

"_It's just, my father missed out on a huge thing, watching me start high school, isn't that every father's nightmare?_" she looked down and bit the corner of her lip, fighting tears that threatened to reveal how truly upset she was.

"_No, it's watching his baby girl get married, but he gave his life to free us all, forever_" he tilted her chin up. "_and I will always be here for you, no matter what_"

Aelita smiled and got up on her tippy toes to kiss his cheek.

* * *

Marina sat on her bunk, I-pod playing one of her many songs, IMing her brother Tyler.

(bold Tyler, italics Marina)

_How is every one?_

**Good, how's school?**

_boring and interesting all at once_

**Fun fun**

_YEAH!(note sarcasm)_

**XD Have you picked up on the French yet?**

_A little. Wana here what happened at lunch?_

**Of course, who'd you make cry today?**

_haha, now shut up. This girl walked up to sit at my friend's table, and Odd said something to make her stare at me (that I was some genius it turns out) and she kept expecting me to say something smart. After a while of hearing her speak French to me, i turned to Odd and asked if she had air for brains, cause she didn't seem to get I didn't speak it. And Odd said something about me being so smart that i'd made the connection before even really talking to her._

**wow**

_yeah, so, when she found out I only spoke english, she cussed me out and stomped away._

**ha, i miss you**

_me to._

**G2G, school, bye!**

_Bye!_

Marina closed her laptop and put it away before dosing off—she still felt jetlagged.

When dinner came around, the group met up and ate dinner peacefully. Afterwards, they went to the student union to have some hot chocolate and sip it by the fireplace. Afterwards, everyone went their separate ways.

Marina was walking to the girls showers when her phone started playing to the song "Hey Stephen" by Taylor Swift. She pulled it out and read her text from Cody.

At Lunch, how are you? I miss you—he wrote

She smiled and texted back. "Good, miss you to, how was your game?"

Great, we won 21 to 13—he responded

That's amazing, how'd your arm pull out?—she asked.

Great, not a problem—was his answer

Cool, I got to shower and get to bed before they come at me with cerfew rules, I'll text you went I can, set your phone for silent just in case—she wrote back

A minute later, just before she opened the door to the girl's showers, she phone beeped to the signal of her ending text.

Ok—it said

She showered quickly and rushed to her room in her pajamas. When she climbed ono her bunk, she pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to Cody.

Okay, I'm ready, ask anything—she wrote

Do you have any roommates?—was his first question.

Yeah, 3, Anna, Aelita, and Yumi, Anna and Aelita are in my grade and Yumi is a sophomore—she texted.

Cool, any new friends—her phone read.

Yeah, along with my roommates, there some guys, Odd, Ulrich, Jeremy and William, I hang out with them a lot—she told him.

Cool. Hey, did you get my package yet?—he sent her.

Package?—was her short response.

Yeah, while I was in San Francisco, I saw something, and I thought of you—she read. Smiling, she responded with: Cool, mail usually arrives to us first period, so maybe I'll get it tomorrow.

I miss you—was next

I miss you too, Cody. I had a dream about us last night, the two times we almost kissed --she smiled on memory, and thought of his smile when he read it.

Well, when you come back for Thanksgiving, I'll give you a proper kiss—he wrote her.

Actually, I'll be back in a couple weeks for a long weekend, France has a national holiday or something—she wrote.

Cool… hey, Mr. Brandon is giving out a pop quiz, sorry love, I must go—she sighed.

Okay, can't wait for our first real kiss!—she sent him. She nearly jumped out of her skin when the door opened and Anna walked in.

"Hey, you're jumpy, what up?" she asked.

"Nothing, my boyfriend and I've been texting, but he had to go" she explained. Then, she muttered to herself: "stupid pop quizzes"

"So, have you guys kissed" Anna asked, ready for dish mode.

"No" Marina sighed.

"Why not? He is your boyfriend, isn't he?" she cocked her eyebrow in expectation.

"Yes… maybe… I don't know, we have tried to kiss, and we weren't real couply before I left, but the day I last saw him, he asked me not to fall for some French guy, and when I come back, we will kiss" Marina's words were flying out of her mouth so fast, she was surprised Anna understood.

"You're boyfriend-girlfriend, definitely. Why didn't you kiss yet?" Anna climbed up onto her bunk, and faced a not sitting up Marina.

"Well, when we almost kissed the first time, my letter from France came, so I forgot. We didn't bring it up until when I last saw him, I was going to leave for the airport in two days, and he had to be at a football game" she explained.

"Football player, nice catch" Anna commented.

"Anyway, he asked for me not to fall in love with someone else—like that'd ever happen—and we almost kissed again, and my big brother interrupted, twice, then his dad honked the horn, and he had to leave" Marina took a deep breath in. "So now, when I go home for holiday break, I'm going to kiss him and it will be so good and I'm not going to let anyone interrupt me, nobody."

Anna smiled. "Awe, I remember my first kiss" she said as Aelita walked in with Yumi close behind.

"What about kissing?" Yumi asked.

"Oh, Marina's gonna get her first kiss when she goes home for her holiday in a couple weeks, and I'm telling her about mine" Anna explained.

"Ooh, dish" Yumi said as she sat down on Aelita's bed and patted it. Marina and Anna jumped. Marina took a spot on the floor, while Aelita and Anna sat at Yumi's sides.

"Well, it was the fourth grade, it was this cute guy, Jesse, well, it was afterschool, and my mom hadn't picked me up, so he and I were sitting on the swings. We were talking about our sappy older siblings already dating, and he leaned in, and he kissed me. His lips tasted like the apple he had for lunch, and his hair smelt like grass on cold mornings, when the dew has just set in"

"Awe" Yumi and Aelita said, picturing an innocent little blond girl with long wavy hair kissing a nine year old boy.

"Well, mine was something in itself." Yumi said, blushing as she said so. "William and I were walking in the park, talking about music, we sat down by a tree, he tucked my hair behind my ear and told me my eyes were so warm he could be in the arctic and he'd be okay, so long as he could look me in the eyes."

"Wow, that's a keeper right there" Marina commented.

"Hmm… them, he cupped my face in her hand and stroked my cheek and his lips met mine, and we kissed, and it was soft, like touching velvet" Yumi's eyes went warm and bright with memory.

"Hmm… Mine, well… Jeremy and I were at a dance last year, and it was to this American song, fix you"

"Coldplay, nice" Marina said.

"Well, I told him he'd done that and more for me just before the song ended, and he blushed, and somehow… our lips met, and I felt like I was meeting him all over again"

"Wow…" Marina murmured, wondering if her first kiss story would be so spectacular.

"Hey, it's nearly ten, we should get to bed" Yumi commented.

"Yeah" Anna agreed, before climbing up the ladder onto her bunk. The other's settled into bed and dreamed happy dreams.


End file.
